| | 08/19/2015 |  Back in 1999, when I first started TFWW one of the main appeals of selling on the Internet was that we could be closed a lot and I would have time for my family. I come from a long line of shopkeepers (small grocery stores on my father's side and "Max's Luncheonette" on my mother's). Both of my parents went screaming in the opposite direction from retail, and at best, selling perishables is not a business I would wish on anyone. It's just too much work. Anyway the concept of taking orders electronically and closing on weekends seemed ideal for someone as lazy as I.
However the reality of this turned out to be bogus. From the very beginning we had customers visit us from all over the country. Even just a few weeks ago I found out that a friend of my son's grandparents came a visiting NYC and one place they wanted to visit was here. I was out with the flu, and they had no idea it was my place and I had no idea any of this went down until a week later, it's just one of those crazy coincidences.
Anyway as we grew more and more people stopped by. And it's great to see who our customers actually are. Put faces to names and stuff. We also get a fair amount of visits from local cabinetmakers who need something right away (usually Festool) and non-professionals who need stuff for home projects, usually to get stuff done on the weekends.
Every last one of these customers hates that we close at 5 and aren't opened on the weekends.
Until Now!
Starting this weekend we are open on Saturdays from 11:00 - 5:00. Our building finally added a passenger elevator (it's behind the loading docks) and we hired Brendan, a recent graduate of the College of the Redwoods and first prize winner at the most recent IWFS fair in Vegas for his cabinetmaker's zither, to run the store. So for the first time we have a proper staff and we plan to upgrade the store displays in the future. Anyway starting this Saturday we will be open. You can park most place s- although don't block the loading dock, we are on the fifth floor, here is a . If the front door happens to be locked (we are still sorting out security) give us a call at 800-426-4613 and someone will come down to let you in.
N.B. The website is still being updated for the new hours so no matter what it says we are open on Saturdays!
Remember of course we have everything Festool, all the Gramercy Tools, our new Hardware Store Saw, fabulous Brace Bits, and tons of other stuff. Brendan will be happy to give you a demo and answer any questions you might have. In addition to Brendan, Annie is also on this Saturday as in Ben. So we have you covered for just about any question you might have.
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I will still ride the N train to your stop at 36 street. I may be in this fall to see what you have.
Please understand, I'm very happy that TFWW will have Saturday hours, and I'm looking forward to visiting, but it does seem a bit lop-sided.
Regards, Wes
All the Hardware Store Saws we have and are readying to ship are committed to orders. We would never sell a saw in the store if it's already committed to a customer.
joel